The Choices We Make
by greekprincess189
Summary: Felicity loves science but genetics are science and she's pretty sure whoever her dad is, he sucks- inherited brains or no. Tony Stark knows he's changed but his past hasn't. What do the two geniuses from different worlds have in common? Whatever it is, it's thicker than water. From saying goodbye to hello again, where do the choices we make lead us? And can we go back again?
1. Chapter One - A Simple Occurence

"Really? 'The Battle of Sudan'? That's what they're calling it?"

Tony Stark snorted and took another swig of the very expensive and very tasty brandy he picked up on the way home from another SHIELD "problem elimination". Needless to say, the maitre d' of the restaurant he got it from all but sputtered as the billionaire swaggered into the crowded restaurant in full armor. It was very good brandy.

"What did you want them to call it. Tony? The Struggle for the Golden Deserts of Sudan?"

Pepper called over her shoulder from the massive walk-in closet. She gently tugged out her hair from her sleek ponytail, rubbing at her aching scalp. Sometimes being a business woman was a burdensome thing. She grabbed her favorite pair of jeans and a tshirt and headed into the bathroom to change.

Tony grinned. "Hey, you know that's good! They should have you do the write-ups for their files!" He swiped away the holographic screens and turned to embrace Pepper, the businesswoman gone and the beautiful woman he loved in her place. "You seem to like... paperwork." He teased, saying the last word with distaste.

"You know, I actually have people who do that for me now. It's called delegation. Speaking of, you need to just hire an R&D staff for your personal projects. They could work on multiple projects at once."

Tony rolled his eyes. Okay, so Pepper wasn't entirely in business mode but she was in nagging mode.

"I can multitask!" He began pouring another glass of brandy behind his back as if to prove a point, "Besides, it takes away all the credit from me if I have a team." He handed her the glass and they swayed in time to the strains of music that came subtly on. "Thanks, JARVIS." Tony not so subtly called out. He took another drink and smiled at her.

Then Pepper stopped. There was something off in that smile. You could always see it in people. That place behind the smile and the eyes where people keep things that hurt or bother them but they don't want it to do that to the people they love. She set down her glass on the counter and took Tony's.

She leveled that look at him. The one that said she loved him but he better start spilling or she'd give him subtle hell for a week to a year.

"What's wrong?"

Usually Tony could lie and very well too, but not to Pepper and that look.

"You know, after everything. You know- alien invasion, Norse supposedly mythological gods," He paused, "You being infected by Extremis... I thought nothing could shake me."

Tony broke away and slumped down on one of the long couches in the vast penthouse. His hands ran up his face, as if trying to scrub away a memory he wanted to unsee. Pepper handed him back his drink and sat down next to him, starting to rub his shoulders, pull out all his tension. He looked as if he needed it. She hated seeing him like this, not weak, but upset. And he hated her seeing it, because even though he could be Iron Man without the armor, he was still Tony Stark, a human.

"What happened?" Pepper braced herself, it was something she was good at, besides running a multi-billion company. Being Tony's rock and bracing for explosions, both metaphorical and literal.

"It was a kid. I mean, he was a teenaged punk. But he was just a scared kid, deep down." Tony took a deep breath. "It was on my way back from the "Sudan" thing. I picked up the brandy and decided to take a stroll along the docks. Clear my head and lungs from the desert. There was a kid in an alleyway, not very big but he was whaling on this younger kid. So I stopped him. I turned him over to the police, because-" Suddenly Tony stopped and looked with anguish at Pepper. "Who can help a kid like that? He wasn't in awe of me, not as Iron Man. Just a scary guy in a big suit of armor that could easily take him down as easily as he could take down a younger kid."

Pepper took her own deep breath. They never really talked about children.

"You did the right thing, Tony."

"I know and I made them promise to get him all the best of help. Or I paid them."

Pepper smiled tightly and gripped Tony's hands in hers.

"Then everything will be alright."

"Will it? Because do you know what the social worker down at the police station said? That these problems most often occur because these kids don't have fathers or mothers." Tony looked seriously into Pepper's eyes, his veneer of confidence and charm he took pride in- slowly being washed away by past regrets resurfacing. "I should know, with my family history."

"And you know," He laughed, a bitterness roughing up his laugh. This is where Pepper really braced for it.

"I probably have kids out there. A lot of kids. And they're probably all messed up because I failed them- not as Iron Man, but as me, as a father."

He waited. The seconds drew themselves out into the silence. Like watching cold blue numbers on a bomb's timer and being caught in slow motion, helpless.

Tony didn't expect what happened next. Pepper's hands slid out of his and she excused herself saying that it was late and she would be busy in the morning. Then she went to sleep. In the guest bedroom.

Tony stayed up all night that night. He knew what he said might disturb her. He wasn't a saint when they met, very far from it, but he had changed. She had changed him.

Then it hit him three hours past midnight, his mind tangled up in old memories of his father, cold and distant. He hadn't given much thought to children in any way shape or form. He had joked with Maya Hansen that one time about if she had their child with her when she came to visit Stark Mansion before that whole ugly affair with Aldritch. But she didn't and she was dead.

What would he have done if Maya did have a child with her? What would he do? What would Pepper do?

He did intend to marry her, eventually. He half expected Pepper to propose to him, actually. Having a family was a natural extension of that idea.

Tony flung himself up and out of bed. He poured himself a shot from the flask next to the bed.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?"

"We have work to do."

"Yes, Mr. Stark."

He yanked on a pair of slippers. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter Two - One Good Man

How to narrow it down.

Tony groaned. This would take a while. But he pulled his achingly tired bones together and took the elevator down to the lower R&D levels of the Avengers tower. It definitely wasn't his first all-nighter and this was something he needed to do.

"JARVIS. I'm going to find my kids."

"Yes, sir. Shall we start with the western hemisphere?"

Not for the first time, Tony regretted programming his AI to be such a smartass. But it was practical.

"Sure. And we can go backwards from when Pepper and I... became a thing."

"Yes, sir. How shall we go about this? I can pull up all records of your..." The slight pause was tact coded into JARVIS' voice, "personal endeavors ever since I became active."

Tony grimaced. He did not look forward to sifting through that. Most of his endeavors didn't appreciate being dumped or escorted off his property.

"We can also search for any genetic matches within databases."

"Including criminal databases, sir?"

"Yes, JARVIS, we're going to find out who else I've screwed up for life. And line up a list of medical records of all the women I... you know."

"Indeed, sir."

Tony scooped out a blood-testing kit from one of the drawers underneath a worktable and spread out its contents on the table.

"I want the truth!"

"You can't handle the truth!"

It was funny how a brief flash of a movie he watched with the rest of the Avengers last weekend could make him so uncomfortable now. JARVIS would say it was the context of the moment.

He picked up a syringe.

"Been a while since I used these, eh, JARVIS?"

"It is an accomplishment, sir."

Tony sanitized the syringe (Banner had been thoroughly sure to show him a great big projection of a macroscopic image of all the germs on a used syringe) and began to draw blood from his arm. He then transferred it into a test tube.

"There you go." He slid it into a processor, "Have fun finding my offspring, JARVIS."

"Shall we run through possible candidates from my records, Mr. Stark?"

"Sure. Why not?"

JARVIS put up a wall of pictures. Tony exhaled. Great.

"Right, eliminate those without a history of pregnancy."

A handful tiles disappeared. He recognized a few of them, mostly power career women without interest in a family. Pepper wasn't a power career woman, was she? She was amazing, that was for sure, though.

"Now eliminate those whose pregancies occured after marriage, but only those in stable and financially secure families. Separate those who are in need of financial assistance."

He might as well do some good for other people who weren't screwed up by him but needed help.

Another handful disappeared.

"Now eliminate those who are married and are still with their spouses. I don't want to go barging into anyone's perfect family." Was that bitterness? He shook himself off.

More tiles were flicked away. A small but still sizable group remained.

"JARVIS, are all these women still alive? And are their children?"

Two tiles branched off into pictures of children but their mothers' pictures turned red and disappeared. Tony almost stopped breathing.

"It seems two of the women are deceased and their children are in the system."

"Find them. Contact a good agent. Make sure they get placed into good homes. They might not be mine but they deserve better."

"Yes, sir. Very good."

"Now call in someone good to check out the rest of these. I'm going to set up an anonymous trust fund."

"Shall I tell Ms. Potts, sir?"

Tony grimaced. It might be the "right" thing to do but he didn't want Pepper to know anyways. It was his problem and he'd fix it.

"Nah, it's fine, buddy. We'll keep this on the DL. Did you come up with any matches for my genes?"

Only one picture came up this time.

It was an older blonde woman, smiling broadly in what was obviously a driver's license picture.

"I don't recall her."

"A Mrs. Donna Smoak. She resides in Las Vegas and is employed as a waitress."

"She's too old to be mine."

"The genetic match came up for her daughter, sir."

The picture of the blonde woman branched off into another picture. It was of a young woman, who was also blonde with glasses and bright fuschia lipstick.

"Mr. Stark, do you remember the weekend you spent in Las Vegas when you turned 21?"

Tony laughed. Yeah, that was one weekend. Of course, he had been there before and had a lot of fun but it usually also involved bribing people. When he turned legal, no one could stop him from doing whatever the heck he wanted.

"Yep, JARVIS?"

"Well, sir, you must recall the company's effort to secure a divorce for you after a drunken marriage in 'Elvis' Chapel'?"

"Oh, that." Tony gulped. "That wasn't..."

"You had given your name, in a drunken slur, as 'Smoak' instead of your actual surname, Mr. Stark."

"And that woman, my daughter?"

"Felicity Smoak, sir. Resident of Starling City and assistant to Oliver Queen of Queen Consolidated fame."


	3. Chapter Three - The IT Girl

Tony made sure to say goodbye to Pepper. He also made sure to get himself a meeting with the Queen Consolidated board and make sure Pepper had enough to keep her busy so he could "volunteer" to cover for her. Queen Consolidated was up for the buying but he wasn't interested in that.

 _"It's really only a friendly visit. I promise I won't put in a bid unless you say so. I'll just charm away, maybe suggest a possible partnership for some projects."_

 _"You know any business propositions have to go through me. I'll just shoot down anything I don't see fit."_

 _"Of course you will. And since it's me that's going, they'll know they're not getting into anything serious- though, they probably need my mone_ y."

He reassured her and left flowers on her desk, an overly flamboyant and enormous bouquet of red roses so Pepper thought he was just being his usual ridiculous self. Even though it was an actual business meeting he was going to, it didn't help to smooth away the rumpled feeling of guilt within as he boarded the private jet.

"Hey, Marcos. Ready to go?" Tony flipped up his sunglasses and once-over'ed the member of his security detail. Marcos stood stiffly but relaxed when Tony clapped him on the shoulder.

"Yes, sir. Pity 'Happy' Hogan isn't along for the ride."

"Yeah, I miss him too."

Tony crashed into one of the sumptuous leather seats. An attendant made a glass of champagne magically appear and then disappeared herself after Tony didn't ask for anything else. He was too busy staring ahead of him, chin on his fist as it always was when he was faced by a problem.

He pulled out the file JARVIS had put together for him.

"Felicity Smoak..."

* * *

Felicity drummed her fingers on the counter. She had just finished dealing with a snotty teen-aged guy who was obviously trying to impress her with hilariously inaccurate tech knowledge. He was also wearing an eye-searing pair of ill-fitting jeans. And then there was that elderly lady who came in to complain that her new laptop was making no sense. How the lady managed to glitch out the laptop so completely was almost beyond Felicity.

"Smoak!"

Felicity jumped and began to look like she was desperately busy before her boss could emerge from his office. _Or should we call it a bear's den?_

"Yes, sir?"

Barney strolled out of his office. Felicity rolled her eyes before turning around to greet him with the brightest plastic smile she could muster.

"Did you do the inventory?"

His tone implied that she wasn't even capable of doing so. _You're talking to an MIT graduate, mister._

"Yes, yes, I did. I also made sure of the resupply list for the rest of the month, updated our filing system, re-categorized the records properly, and set up the schedule of the tech squad."

Felicity smiled and amped up the brightness of her smile until her facial muscles ached. She was well rewarded by the dumbfounded look on the man's face.

"Um, well, good work, then. Uh, carry on." He stuttered out.

"Thank you, sir."

"And uh, put on another pot of coffee in the back." Barney called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the back office.

Felicity's smile melted off her face.

"Sure thing." She bit out before turning back to the counter with another plastic smile to deal with a new customer who was coughing not so discreetly for her attention.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

The guy shuffled awkwardly. Felicity almost laughed. He was a broadly-built young man in a leather jacket but he looked as uncomfortable as a teenager about to be sent into the principal's office.

"Sorry, my phone broke and I'm in a hurry to replace it. My boss wanted to give me one but it was a bit over my head." He hurriedly explained.

Felicity softened. She felt a sympathy for those people who couldn't keep up in the rapidly developing tech world, even if she didn't have a problem with it. At least this guy wasn't a complete ditz when it came to it. _Unlike some people..._

"Simple flip phone model?"

The guy nodded.

"Coming right up." She disappeared into the store room and reappeared with a box and handed it to the man. "This baby is simple but effective for any of your calling and texting needs. You can also buy one of these prepaid cards. I'm guessing you're not from around here."

"That obvious?"

Felicity laughed. "It's the accent. I watch enough tv to know you're a New Yorker. And," She watched him pull out his wallet, "You're not careful enough with your wallet for a Starling City stomper."

"Well, that's weird because I'm a security guard. We're all about being careful."

"You're a security guard and your boss was willing to replace your phone with a really high tech one?"

"Yeah. He's good like that." He took the bag Felicity handed to him. He paused and took out the receipt. He smiled awkwardly at her before proceeding to scribble out something on it. He handed it to her.

"Um, that's- that's my number. I'm going to be in town for a while. I thought maybe I could get you a drink. And... you could meet my boss. I heard you talking with yours. You're wasted here."

Felicity wished she wasn't so prone to turning a horribly bright shade of pink. She took the receipt. "Thanks?"

It was the man's turn to become bright red.

"Only if you want to, I mean! I-uh."

"I'll think about it." Felicity hastily reassured him.

The guy looked relieved. "The name's Marcos."

"Nice to meet you, Marcos." He held out his hand to shake. Felicity took it.

"You know, you're not the first guy this week to say that I could do better than this place."

"Then it's decided! I will introduce you to my boss."

Felicity struggled within herself. She was still trying to get Oliver to reclaim his company and she didn't want to leave him now. But it didn't hurt to network.

"Okay." She said. She couldn't help smiling when Marcos broke into a wide grin. "So, who do you work for again?"

Marcos shuffled and looked down at his feet again.

"Um, between you and me... I work for Tony Stark of Stark Industries."

"Oh."


	4. Chapter Four - No More Maybe's

**_Hi guys! Wow, I can't believe people are actually reading this. Thank you for the positive reviews but also know that I am very welcoming of constructive criticism. Again, you guys are awesome._**

 ** _This chapter is set during "The Calm". Obviously AU. That ending of the episode though, excuse me while I cry._**

 ** _Anyways, add in another billionaire genius who ties into the Great Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let the games begin._**

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Oliver. I really thought that was going to go our way."

Felicity stepped quickly to catch up with the man, cursing her footwear and restricting suit.

"It's fine. I'm sure the company will be better off with Dr. Palmer anyways. It was selfish of me to think I could save the company. I'd better stick to what I do best." Oliver paused and smiled tightly at her . "I bet you were really looking forward to making me coffee again."

Felicity _loved_ him. She really did and right then she _really_ just wanted to hug him.

"It's fine. It's not like my IT career is over. Guess who is going to get to meet a certain billionaire genius? And no, I don't mean Mr. Ray-ooh-like-my-smartwatch-Palmer."

Oliver raised an eyebrow in that very Oliver Queen-style.

"Tony Stark of Stark Industries! The main leader of clean energy and a billion other tech advancements!"

Oliver couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. He cringed inwardly when he noticed that Felicity noticed.

"No! Oh gosh, no, I'm not leaving you! Never! Oh gosh, not that I'm _with_ you, just I'm with your _crusade_. 3, 2, 1..."

Oliver put his hand to steady her. "Felicity." This was going to hurt him a lot more than it was going to hurt her. Right? "I understand. That's huge. It's great."

Felicity stopped him. " _You need me_ , Oliver. I'm your girl and until every single last baddie in this city is locked up in a smelly old jail, I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you."

Felicity smiled. "So... do you want to grab a coffee before the next takedown?"

Then she saw it. She had taken a risk and that small crack that she thought could be safely stepped over widened into a void that she stared down. Oliver stepped back, ever so imperceptibly. But she noticed. So she tried to save it.

"We can just pick up a couple for the team, it will probably be a long night."

She waited. _Black ice would be the metaphor for this moment_ , she thought.

"Sure."

 _Maybe, just maybe, we can make it._

* * *

 _"Don't ask me to say that I don't love you."_

 _"I told you as soon as we talked... it would be over."_

Felicity bit her lip down hard, trying to walk straight as hot burning tears started to sting and cloud her vision. She stopped beside her car parked in the alleyway and fumbled inside her purse for her car keys. _He made his choice._

All she wanted to do was go home and crash, maybe call her mom or something.

Her fingers failed to grasp anything remotely like a car key. She wanted to curse, scream, be angry as heck- anything but fall apart crying. Anything but feel the raw heartbreak...

"Felicity?"

If anything, the sheer surprise of it caught her off guard. She turned around, blinking into the headlights of the limo behind her. A man stood there, half-emerged from the driver's seat of the limo.

"Marcos? Oh, gosh, I'm in your way." She paused and blinked at him. "Why did you park in the alleyway?"

Marcos turned crimson. _That had to be some sort of record_ , was what crossed Felicity's mind. The second thought was-

"Oh my gosh, are you stalking me?"

 _Great, just another stalker to add to the list_. She reached into her purse slowly and pulled out what seemed then to be a ridiculously inadequate pink canister of pepper spray. The man could probably take her out faster than she could flip the switch.

"Stay away, I'm armed." _Hanging out with a vigilante sure as heck should pay off now._

"I don't want to hurt you, Felicity!"

"It's Ms. Smoak to you, creeper."

The passenger door of the limo opened. Felicity shielded her eyes to see the new player.

"Ms. Smoak. My name is Tony Stark. We need to talk."

"Frak."


	5. Chapter Five - A Run-In

Felicity stood deathly still in the chilling night air. For a moment the world seemed to reel around her, blurring out in a mist of exhaust and high beam lights. She felt like she was falling but then caught herself.

"Tony- Mr. Stark?" She managed to eventually sputter out.

Tony laughed. This was not how he imagined meeting his daughter. She looked so... grown up. He felt like it was all wrong. As if her childhood had been stolen from him and she should be younger. _But you were the one who stole her childhood from her._

"Miss Smoak. Would you care to step into the office?" He waved grandiosely at the limo, "We need to talk."

Felicity nearly choked. She had seen the footage of the Battle for New York on the tv that one night in her apartment. She, like many in Starling City, watched in horror as the sky opened up and _aliens_ poured through into one of the most densely populated American cities. She had also seen _him_ in the fray, clad in a flying suit of armor and fighting side by side the Avengers. She was, if it was possible, even more impressed by his developments in technology. The Iron Man suit was one thing but an entire skyscraper powered by clean energy? That was revolutionary.

But of course the more immediate concern was that even though Marcos wasn't stalking her, another billionaire genius was. She was still going to hack into Ray Palmer's new building's speaker system and Rick Roll and "Afro Circus" him into insanity.

"Have you been stalking me? Oh gosh, did I get on the Avengers' bad side?" Felicity thought furiously back through all the hacking she jad done recently. Nothing to gain any real attention, right? At least not from "Earth's Mightiest Heroes"?

Tony screwed up his face into one of confusion before smoothing it out into a charming smile and pretending he thought she was joking despite the terror in her voice. _Well, she is mine. Who knows what she's capable of._

"Of course not. I just wanted to discuss something with you."

A job offering then? _I'm not leaving you._ Felicity opened her mouth to say something but the acrid burning in her throat that had tortured her after _walking away from Oliver_ began to return.  
"Um, I would be really honored and I know you're really busy but I'm kind of a mess right now."

She was startled to see something in Tony's demeanor crack a bit. He looked so upset behind that charming smile of his that Felicity found herself scrambling to fix it. _Always being the people-pleaser, huh, Smoak?_

"I mean, that'd be great, but I'm a bit hungry and I think I'm going to need some fortifying before talking to the Tony Stark."

Tony grinned and loosened up, the tension spilling out of him so quickly he was afraid he was going to sweep her up and tell her right then. _My daughter_ _._

"Any ideas?"

"Big Belly Burger. Marcos," She smiled with just a hint of mischieviousness, "we will take my car. We wouldn't want anyone recognizing Mr. Stark. And do you have a baseball cap, Mr. Stark?"

"You seem to know how the rich and famous roll." Tony quipped, ducking into the back seat to grab his Yankees snap-back that he always had stashed away in case of the paparazzi. Pepper insisted.

"Believe me, I've had practice."

Tony knew. He had read the file. Former IT expert and then assistant to Oliver Queen while he was CEO of Queen Consolidated. There must have been plenty of paparazzi to deal with. What was also in the file that immensely interested Tony was her graduation from MIT at a young age, _just like him_.

Felicity would have wanted to ride in silence, in the shotgun of the car, pointedly avoiding Marcos' glances until he got the point and returned to his profession's customary stony face. She still wasn't sure if that actually had been a chance meeting at the tiny Tech Village, now. This seemed way too intense for a meetup suggested by an employee to an employer. It also didn't help that Stark Industries had a reputation for wanting to have all the best minds to themselves to keep an edge on the market. _Anyways, back to the silence._

But Tony Stark didn't want to sit in silence.  
He led with, "Marcos tells me you're very good with tech."

"He barely saw a demonstration."

Marcos resisted the urge to shift in his seat so Felicity scrutinized his stoniness instead.

"You would love the Avengers tower. Floors devoted entirely to R&D."

 _What is that?_ Tony could hear Bruce snarking. _Your scientist pick up line?_

Felicity shrugged. "I love elegant pieces of hardware but it's the software I'm more into."  
She thought with amusement back to her original reaction to the TX 50 model she had seen in Waller's secrety HQ.

"You know, I have an AI running Avengers Tower. I coded him myself."

That piqued Felicity's interest. Not many got a look inside Tony Stark's gears and buildings and the thought of an AI running an entire building was incredibly interesting.

"AI's take a long time to code and often they have processing problems when it comes to interaction and speaking with others."

Tony felt a spark of satisfaction at getting the puzzlingly reticent Felicity to open up. "Yeah, that could have been a problem, except JARVIS, that's my AI, _learns_."

"A very intelligent Artificial Intelligence, then."

"Exactly."

"That's awesome. I've tried my hand at coding an AI but I've gotten really busy lately."

"Yeah. And not to make things awkward, but I looked you up." Felicity jumped in her seat and almost hit her head on the ceiling. She side-eyed Marcos before making a noncommital noise in her throat.

"Your job before... Tech Village, was a high end job as an assistant to a CEO and before that it was an IT expert. Why did you change from working with software to getting coffee?"

Felicity went stiff and closed her eyes. _Because Oliver._ "A better salary?" She offered up, even though she knew it came out sounding weak and not at all convincing.

Tony knew he had touched a sore spot and he wanted to know why.

They pulled up alongside a small and yet incredibly comfortable looking burger joint with an aging neon light flashing with intermittent power failures. Tony saw it as a reflection of the city. Home to many, but dying slowly. He didn't want his daughter stuck here when it finally kicked the bucket. He was beginning to like the kid.

"We're here." Marcos announced, flicking off his portable GPS, one of the few pieces of tech he felt comfortable with, really.

Tony flipped on his baseball cap and grinned.

"Dinner's on me."

He wasn't sure he could get through the night. Felicity wasn't sure either.


	6. Chapter Six - Hold Me I'm Falling

**_Whoa. I seriously did not expect anyone to actually read this. I'm so sorry for the late update. Work is a corporate nightmare. Anyways, this one is really short but I am actually getting back into the swing of things. It helps that I've found a Quicksilver mix that suitably triggers all sorts of feels that can only be released by fic-writing._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy. P.S. I do actually have a plot. Like 12 percent of a plot. Just kidding. Don't worry and just buckle up._**

 ** _Reviews are love, breath, life, and you know, encouragement. I am especially appreciative of_** ** _The Yin and Yang Fallen Angel's review. I usually don't approve of language but I literally woke up at two in the morning and nearly died laughing at it. It's passion like yours that keeps me motivated._**

 ** _Also, "Saturn" by Sleeping at Last just gives me the shivers so I don't know if you like your feels splattered all over the wall but I recommend listening to it near the end of this chapter-ette._**

 ** _edit: Thank you for the correction, guys. So, new peeps... You saw nothing... *backs slowly into a dark corner*_**

* * *

Tony slid into the worn but comfortable leather booth. He eyed Felicity and Marcos who had gotten up to grab a few beers from the bar, a small smirk ducking about his lips as he took in Marcos' awkwardness and Felicity's cold shoulder to him.

"That- that wasn't a set-up. Kind of. Felicity-"

Marcos really needed to learn how to talk under his breath better. Tony took the pro-offered bottle from Felicity, grinning apreciatively. Marcos slid into the booth next to him with an incredibly beleaguered air. Tony had caught it in Pepper enough times to know it.

"It _really_ wasn't his fault. Poor kid couldn't commit espionage if he wanted to." Tony waved dismissively. Marcos sputtered but Tony cut him off as Felicity sat down opposite them. "His phone was really broken. _How_ it got broken is also not his fault. And the nearest place for a phone was your Tech Village."

"Which you knew." Felicity pointedly stated.

Tony shrugged. "You have a reputation."

"I wasn't aware."

"So, you weren't the one who wrote the super-virus that nearly took down an entire city."

Tony leaned in close, folding his hands under his chin, closely inspecting Felicity's response. To her credit, she didn't do much more than take a sharp breath.

"How did you know about that?"

Another noncommittal shrug. "The virus set off an alert in the IT department of a certain government agency. They have their sources and I have mine. It's an impressive bad baby."

"It almost got my mother and me killed." Her face stilled into a hard mask, "Yeah, a real bad baby."

Their burgers arrived. Felicity almost lunged for hers and only quickly glanced at Tony and Marcos before plunging in.

"Hungry?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Been a heck of a day."

"Bet I can top it."

It was Felicity's turn to raise an eyebrow. "How's this? Yesterday, I finally went out on a date with a man I have been _pathetically_ pining after for ages, we got blown up, I'm being stalked by a billionaire genius that isn't you, my friend's company was stolen by a man who tricked me into helping me hack into it, and I got totally dumped because the guy I like has issues about life outside of work."

Felicity only realized she had been close to yelling when she opened her eyes to the almost stunned and terrified looks on Tony and Marcos' faces. Oops?

Tony's face broke into a wide grin.

"And that is why you should work for me. Marcos knows that I'm a good boss. Plus, _the salary_."

Felicity was glad she had swallowed her bite of burger otherwise, goodbye Smoak. She still made an undignified sputtering noise.

"You're... serious?"

"Absolutely."

Felicity didn't know what to think of it at all. A few weeks ago, the answer would have been a no-brainer. She had been a part of the Arrow Team, the super-hacker girl at Oliver Queen's side, as incredibly cheesy as that sounded. She had spent too many years looking for a family, a home, and had found it with an unlikely but no less loveable group of people. She had an older brother in John, a younger one in Roy, a much more beautiful but still enthralling sister in Sara, and in Oliver? Well, Heaven knew what he meant to her. Only the other day Felicity had promised to stand by him...

"I'm afraid I can't."

Tony kicked back in his seat, a look of supreme arrogance descending upon him. Somehow, Felicity knew this was the "Tony Stark" of tabloid fame that had suddenly graced the table with his presence. She didn't know whether to be irritated or to be amused. He managed to pull it off with such casualness and aplomb that it was impossible not to be fascinated.

"Why not? You know Stark Industries. We have everything. Everything. A young professional like you couldn't turn down the opportunity."

Felicity's hand twisted around the cold glass neck of the beer bottle before her. It pained her, it really did. There were few things in life that were exhilarating as plunging into a world of code and connections that most other people didn't seem to see. To take something intangible and use it to spin reality into something new and wonderful. It was what had sparked her to plunge into a sea of numbers all those years ago.

"There are a few things that can stop one." She spoke slowly and carefully. It was true, she couldn't break her word to Oliver. Even if he wouldn't look at her, Felicity could try to keep him alive.

Tony seemed to read her like a book, or more like a program.

"It's him, isn't it? You don't even work for him anymore. And judging from what you said, he isn't even committed to you."

Felicity bit her lip, trying to desperately fight back the imminent tears.

"Yeah, well, love is strange."

Tony leaned forward, his celebrity persona melting away as quickly as it came. He put a hand over Felicity's and looked at her with serious brown eyes.

"Okay. I just hate to see a brilliant mind go to waste. You just need to know, you're worth more than that."

It was so incredibly true, Tony thought. Not just because she was his daughter. Anyone with half a brain could see that she was a brilliant, caring, and sensitive person who deserved so much better. _Deserved a father who could stand by her and support her through whatever she had to go through,_ Tony thought bitterly.

"The offer still stands, if you ever decide to live for something more than an ex-playboy millionaire."

Tony inwardly winced at the irony.

"Thank you."

Felicity allowed herself a small and not completely bitter smile. Then her phone rang.

It was Oliver. She sighed and looked up at Tony who only nodded and took a draught of the beer. She stood up and walked to one of the emptier parts of the room. It had better be good.

"Oliver?"

"You have to come. It's Sara. She's-"

Felicity held her breath as it caught in her chest, threatening to give out on her.

"What? Oliver? What?" A frantic edge crept into her voice.

"She's dead. Murdered."

The phone slipped from her hand and she stumbled towards a table, grasping weakly at its edge to stop her from completely falling apart. She started to cry, slow sobs coming in waves, rocking over her like ocean water, taking her out to the deep. The bright lights of the diner seemed to blur in the sting of tears. A part of her world had been torn away and when she tried to reach out towards it, _towards Sara_ , reality seemed to thrust her back as if stabbing with a knife and slashing in warning. _Sara..._ Beautiful, strong, funny, Sara who didn't take anybody's trash. _Go_ _ne..._

She was only dimly aware of Tony and Marcos rushing over, as if slow motion, their faces moving silently in worry as the whole world started to scream.

Was this what it felt like when someone you thought would be standing always was ripped away so cruelly, so easily? Her thoughts flew to Oliver. Oliver who knowingly and willing, _recklessly_ , walked into danger... She didn't know if she could watch another part of her world fall down and shatter around her. Not when losing a _sister_ felt like this.

She suddenly reached out to grip Tony. It seemed wild and insane, like thrashing for a lifeline out at sea. He belonged to a different world, maybe a more dangerous world but one where heroes like the Avengers would face danger and people like her didn't have to face losing everyone they loved as part of their loved one's and their own occupational hazards.

"Can you wait for me? I'll be right back."

Felicity would help Oliver fight his crusade. Maybe she could give him another handful chances a beating death but she would not stand by and watch firsthand. She loved him too much and hurt too much for that.

She wanted more out of life. Maybe that was selfish, but she wasn't sure if she could live at all like this anymore.

Tony Stark wasn't just a future employer, he was her ride out of Starling City. Wrecked, corrupted, crime-filled Starling City- the home of her family that was falling apart.

Tony could only watch with helplessness but with a spark of hope that lit up in the vague area of where his _heart_... He'd wait. He'd wait however long it took for his daughter to come back to him, even if she didn't know who he really was to her and what she really meant to him.


End file.
